


slow me down

by Cloudedstyles



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Baseball, Based on a Tumblr Post, College, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Innocent Luke, poor luke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 03:58:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4691183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudedstyles/pseuds/Cloudedstyles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is no wrong way to meet a person and everyone meets who they're destined to meet one way or another.</p><p>Or, in other words, Audrey met Luke at 3 AM over a spider and that's where it starts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by a college AU prompt and I'm just taking it wherever it leads me, hope you enjoy :)

3 AM was never my favorite time. When I was growing up I was always sleeping before 9:30, and for the most part I stayed asleep. That was until I hit the magical age of 17, when I got my first hamster. His name was Teddy and he was the cutest thing, with his little beady eyes and tiny hands. The only problem was somewhere around 3 AM I found myself waking up, eyes groggy with sleep and ears recognizing the sound of the wheel in his cage as he got his exercise in for the night.

The college dorm was almost completely pitch black. It was a weird feeling, being in the dorm alone like this. I didn't expect my roommate Jenna to get here tomorrow, but that was happening due to a text that said she was running late and thank God she didn't have classes she'd have to miss. Small talk and lack of embarrassing snapchats told me that we weren't exactly best friend material yet, but the day I met her feels like it was yesterday and we still had a long way to go. She said she'd arrive on campus around two tomorrow. That left me to be here alone, which was a small problem to me. I didn't like being alone very much.

"So here I am," I said out loud. A small voice in the void that was my nearly empty dorm room. It seemed a lot bigger at night then in the day, even though I could barely see much. On my tiny desk the alarm clock read 3:49 AM. It's been twenty minutes of being awake, twenty minutes of staring at incredibly dark dorm things, and twenty minutes of mentally cursing Teddy for permanently fucking up my sleep schedule.

For the most part I didn't like the night. The near-quiet left an unsettling feeling in my stomach, a small churning that never really left. That's why I liked to sleep through it and wake up refreshed. I took the time to curl and uncurl my toes again and again while white static filled my mind.

3:50 AM.

Slowly and carefully my hand reached out to the desk where my phone was. The light of the screen didn't bother my eyes much as I unlocked it and went into me messages. The last one I received was at 12:43, coming from Michael. Goodnight, see you soon. No words could accurately describe how grateful I was that my best friend was going to the same college as I was. Instead of being a ten minute drive across town, Michael was soon to be just a short walk away until I was at his dorm. All of our hard work throughout high school to get here finally paid off. The small feeling of pride at that thought made my chest turn to mush and feel like it was sliding all around my body. With a small smile I exited out of the app and put my phone back, not wanting to spoil the moment by going through any other messages I had with other people. There was no way my mind was going back into itself and ruining the good mood.

3:52 AM.

I sat up, letting my comforter fall from my chest. The only good thing that I could think of that came with not having a roommate right now was the ability to sleep topless. Light fingers fumbled over the dark floor until I ran them over my glasses, putting them on so I could see the light switch. It took a couple of hard blinks to get used this light, which was for whatever reason tons brighter than your average light bulb. The bright lighting coming from the fixture on the wall by the door was casting eerie shadows over everything. My mind dwelled on it for a couple seconds before I shoved my head through my sweater. It was big and baggy with the word "MARRION" embroidered in white letters that stood out from the dark crimson. My first college sweater.

With bare feet and my phone in my pocket I stepped out of my room. The night brought humidity that I wanted no part of, so I took off in the direction of a staircase. Maybe it wasn't so smart to wander around the dorms at almost four in the morning, but at the moment I didn't care. At this point my eyes were lacking any trace of sleep and I felt good. Through the thick walls my ears could detect music through some dorms, TV in some others. I never stopped to listen, I just kept walking on the cold hardwood floors of the hall.

Room A11. My feet had just hit the bottom step of the stairs on the first floor when a scream cut through the light buzzing of the light bulb above. It wasn't manly at all, though it clearly belonged to a male. The sound caught me by surprise, causing my heart to beat faster and my steps to falter as I stumbled off of the stairs and into the rest of the hallway. There was another scream, this one sounding less frightened and more panicked.

Maybe it was an unwise decision to jump into action like I did and locate the room where the screams were coming from. Maybe it wasn't smart to put my new pumping adrenaline to use and knock rapidly on the door of said room. But I'm an unwise, stupid eighteen year old god dammit and in the spur of the almost 4 AM moment I'll do as I damn well please.

I wasn't really expecting anything, everything was happening without me thinking correctly. Though if I did expect something, I was not expecting a kid who vaguely resembled a model to open the door.

The first thing I noticed were his eyes. Though the lights in the hallway were dim, they were clearly a wonderful blue and were widened as he stared back at me. His mouth was opened and matched his state of horror, and mine was certainly catching flies as I mentally scrambled over the _oh my god he's hot._

"Um," I stuttered out faster than normal. "Are you okay in here? Like are you dying or something?"

"Uh, kind of?" He replied in the same speed with the same facial expression. "There's a spider."

In the room behind him loud guffaws of laughter could be heard, so loud they could probably wake up the dorms on the top floor. They didn't phase spider boy as he stared at me and they didn't phase me as I stared back. A spider. This kid was screaming bloody murder because of a spider. I didn't laugh like the mystery kid was, though.

"Do you want me to get it out for you?"

Finally his expression changed, his eyes crinkling at the sides as he smiled sheepishly. "Could you?"

"I can't believe this is happening!" Yelled the boy inside the dorm through his spastic chuckles. Spider boy opened the door some more and sent a quick glare behind him. "Shut up, Ashton!"

"So where's the spider?" I tried to look behind him without much success. If he had screams like that, I was looking for a giant man-eating arachnid of doom. It'd sure make this night better. Though I shouldn't get my hopes up like that.

"It's over there," spider boy said, pointing to the dresser closest to the door. A tiny speck was moving over a bright yellow notebook towards a plate holding a half eaten sandwich. A small voice in the back of my head told me not to look around their dorm as I walked straight for the eight legged intruder. All of the adrenaline that built up inside me seemed to deflate as I got closer. It was a daddy long leg, and a small one at that. I quickly pulled my sweater over my hands and let the spider crawl on one before going back into the hall. He crawled off of my sweater as soon as I put my hand on the ground and off he went.

"There," I concluded, turning back around. Spider boy was staring at me with the most confusing expression while the other boy, Ashton I'm assuming, was red faced on a bed from laughing so much. My eyes went back to spider boy, trying my hardest to not let my eyes drift farther down to his chest. "He's gone now. He wasn't gonna hurt you anyway you know, he's just a daddy long leg. Their fangs aren't big enough to pierce human skin."

That sent Ashton into another fit of laughter. He fell back onto the bed too dramatically for the situation in my opinion, clutching his sides. "Come on Luke," he managed to get out. "It wasn't even a harmful spider!"

Spider boy's cheeks started flaming as he shot daggers through Ashton's skull. "Yeah I heard that part, thanks Ashton." He turned back to me, blue eyes now feeling like their staring into the depths of my soul as I leaned against the door frame for support. He reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Well uh, that's Ashton. And I'm Luke."

Luke the spider boy. Luke, the incredibly good looking spider boy in A11 who was afraid of harmless spiders and apparently didn't know what a shirt was. Not that I was complaining. And Ashton, his friend who finds everything funny.

"Uh, nice to meet you guys. I'm Audrey."

"How did you know that about the spider, Audrey?" Ashton was done laughing again, sitting back up with his eyes on me and his hair a wavy mess.

"I camp a bit more upstate during the summer, they're all over the place." And that was the end of that. For a couple of seconds there was complete silence, and my eyes were on the floor for all of it. I was still fully awake, but all of the fearlessness I put into this social situation fled, leaving me to go back into my nature state of awkward.

Ashton spoke again after those seconds, his words slow and soft. "We like you, Audrey."

"Yeah," Luke agreed, his tone quieter then Ashton's. His cheeks were still tinged pink as he smiled. My heart was thumping in my chest a lot harder than it should've been. It was so hard to not take that as a bit weird. By their casualness it was obviously a friendly we like you, but still. I curled my toes and tilted up the corners of my closed mouth.

"Did Luke's girlish screaming wake you up?" Ashton asked, now taking the time to be concerned.

"No," I answered quickly. "No uh, I was already awake."

"Okay, good. Why though?" Ashton looked genuinely confused, as if they were sleeping before this and me being awake was the weirdest thing.

"I couldn't sleep. Why were you guys awake?" That earned a point to the TV, where the paused screen for some soccer game illuminated the dresser.

"I was kicking Luke's ass in FIFA all night."

"Uh, you can stay in here if you want," Luke hesitantly said, like he was testing the waters. He then seemed to trip over his next words as they tumbled out of his mouth. "Since you're not sleeping or anything."

"Yeah," Ashton agreed, moving blankets on the bed to make a more clear spot. "We don't bite, I promise." He paused to giggle. "Well Luke can't, anyway. His fangs are too small."

"Okay Ashton. The spider was harmless, I'm a fucking coward, we get it."

"You said it bro, not me. So Audrey, are you in?" Both gazes turned to me and I could practically feel myself melting under them. I could go back to bed, or I could stay in this dorm with Spider Boy and Captain Laughter. Tiny warning bells in my head were going off that sounded a bit like sexual assault, but I silenced them. These guys were friendly, all they want to do is play video games and get rid of spiders.

"Um, sure. Why not?" Luke visibly relaxed at my answer, his shoulders going down a bit as his small smile came back. I was unable to pry my eyes away, even as he turned around and exposed a broad, slightly tan back to go sit back on the bed. It was only when he patted the spot next to him that I came to my senses and snapped back into focus.

"So Audrey," Ashton said as I climbed on the bed next to Luke. It was a bit packed as it was only a twin bed, but Luke's height allowed him to see over Ashton's shoulder and we all fit on. "You're a freshmen, right?"

"Yeah, I got here this morning."

"So am I," Luke piped up, "a freshman, I mean."

Looking at him, there was some serious doubt that he was actually a freshman. Light stubble lined his defined jaw and made him look a lot older than eighteen. It was kind of like he was a twenty something year old actor that was cast to play in a shitty teen drama on ABC and gave every girl watching false boy hopes throughout high school.

"Aww, look at you freshies," Ashton cooed, though he wasn't looking at us at all. His attention was on the TV as he reached out blindly for his controller. "I'm a sophomore. This place isn't so bad, as long as you don't eat any of the Mexican themed food."

I knew that part. I grew up coming to this college, always running my hands on the brick walls as I stopped by with my parents to see my older siblings. Some of the professors knew me by name and others knew my face. Two sisters going to this school brought home stories of both fascination and horror, but on the bright side all of the horror stories involved a professor that I don't have and the Mexican food, which I could avoid without much sacrifice.

"So where do you guys come from?"

"New Jersey," Ashton answered first. "Moved there when I was twelve. It was weird at first, but now I like it."

Luke took the time to pick up his controller and bite his lip before answering. I watched as he took the black lip ring between his teeth, the metal disappearing and then coming into view again. My eyes barely reached his in time when he turned his head to look at me.

"My mum moved us down to the city for work when I was sixteen. We're both originally from Australia."

"Australia," I repeated with a slight nod. Now that he mentioned it, that could be why his accent was weird. "Yeah. Then I met Ashton on the internet and here we are."

"Wow, that's cool." I paused to think about what I just said. "Or not? Cause you know, Australia is known for being hot and stuff ..." I trailed off, watching Ashton roll his neck and groan.

"No, Audrey. Just go."

"Okay, damn. I guess I'll just leave then." Despite his tone I knew he was joking, but I didn't smile about it to play along. I began to move off of the bed, only to have my wrist grabbed. The hand closed over it fully and firmly stopped me from moving any farther. Not like I was going to continue moving, anyway.

"No, stay." Luke's words were low but laced with urgency. With a small smile that he couldn't see I sat back down next to him and counted the seconds until he finally hesitantly let go of my wrist. I used my Mississippi's to know that it was only five seconds, but man did they seem long. I tried not to think about it too much.

 

I came to the solid conclusion that I liked Luke and Ashton a bit after they started the game. Through the light banter steadily streaming from them I stayed quiet, observing as they played. It was refreshing to see people who weren't Michael and my brother playing video games. They always got into some physical altercation after being at each others' throats for so long, but that wasn't how Ashton and Luke were. It was more of loud whoops of victory from Ashton and soft whining from Luke most of the time. Every now and again Luke scored and his whole being seemed brighter as he relished in his short victory. Ashton tried not to seem too affected by it.

"Look at this," Luke mumbled, lightly bumping his shoulder into mine as he pressed a couple buttons. The ball soared into the goal and he smiled wide while Ashton cursed, causing me to giggle. They were really just too cute.

I was asked a couple of questions throughout the game and answered them with ease. Through it they found out that I was from Clifton Park and I had no knowledge of FIFA or soccer whatsoever, though I confessed to knowing a thing or two about actual baseball. Luke seemed to light up when I said that, letting Ashton score a goal as he turned his attention to me.

"Really?"

"Yeah! My older brother was on a league for quite a few years, and I never missed a game." My favoritism towards my brother wasn't the reason why I never missed a game, but I didn't let Luke know the real reason I was always present. Tonight wasn't for rehashing unwanted memories. My eyes stayed on Luke as he brought his hands up to twirl his necklace around his fingers absentmindedly.

"I'm now on the university's baseball team," he said. "I'm a pitcher."

"Cool, my brother was a catcher. I chucked the balls at his face sometimes. You know, just to test his reflexes and stuff." Luke giggled at that, a loud noise just falling short short of a full on laugh. I chucked it up to tiredness.

"Maybe we should play sometime? If you're up for it, I mean."

"Do it," Ashton contributed. "Beat his ass. And make sure I'm there to laugh at it."

It didn't really take me much time to ponder on the decision before accepting the invitation. Why not? I couldn't pretend like I wasn't sitting in Luke and Ashton's dorm for a long time now and wasn't comfortable with them. Playing ball with different people could create new memories that were more pleasant.

"Make new friends," my sister told me the day before I left for Marrion. She was a petite girl, lacking the height that the rest of us siblings inherited from our father. Her name was Naomi and was quite possibly the nicest girl I could ever know, with friends in all sorts of places. It was predicted that this would be her piece of advice for me. "College is all about new experiences, so have some good ones."

What the spider incident turned into hasn't become a regret yet. Going into then strangers' dorm in the wee hours in the morning was definitely a new experience and the way it was going left me optimistic on the baseball talk. Hopefully Ashton and Luke wouldn't let me down and would instead leave me with even more experiences that involved laughs and not dying.

The two boys kept playing, but eventually their determination to win and my determination to stay awake deteriorated until conversation that I was only half listening to fully took over the game. Ashton caught himself up in a rant about his professor from last year that gave him a D- on his paper for emailing it to him a couple minutes past the due date because of the slow internet connection. Throughout his passionate tangent I found myself meeting Luke's eyes where the ghost of a smile laid though the crinkles. Ashton paid no mind to us.

"I just wish they'd get better internet-" A backwards glance to us revealed Luke and I making silly faces at each other, though mine were poorly done as I struggled to keep my eyes open. "Hey!"

I snapped back into focus and tried not to pay any mind to the new warmth in my cheeks. "Sorry, Ashton. I totally agree with everything you just said."

"Yeah," Luke agreed in the same tone. "I also fully agree with what you just said."

I went to go talk but ended up trying to stifle a yawn first. "Your speech was moving, honestly. It really opened my eyes."

"I'm calling bullshit! You can't even keep your eyes open right now."

"That is true, my new friend. I am totally agreeing with you again. I'm falling asleep."

"Well it's late, it's almost five in the morning."

"How do you guys stay up this late?"

"Magic," Luke answered while shifting around until he was on his knees. Now his face was much closer to mine and his lips were striking distance away from my ear. I didn't dare move, my eyes glued to the bed sheets. Man, this bed was small. "Come on, we'll take you back to your dorm."

"You guys don't have to-"

"No Audrey, don't. We want to." I didn't protest anymore as Luke and Ashton moved around me to get off of the bed. My legs were asleep for the last five minutes, causing the horrible pins and needles sensation to attack full force when I tried to stand up. Ashton was the first to see me plop back down and chuckled as I curled my toes over and over again to try and make the feeling go away.

"It feels like I'm being stabbed by micro swords," I whined. "It doesn't feel good."

"It never feels good," Luke replied with a teasing smile before he turned to pluck a t-shirt off of a pile of clothes. Shamelessly I watched his back as he put it on, noticing just how broad and nice looking his back was. If Ashton saw me looking he didn't show it. I peeled my eyes away to see him scrolling on his phone for a second longer. "Are your legs okay?"

"Uh-" I curled my toes again. The feeling was dulled now and I could actually stand without wanting to die this time. "Yeah, I'm good."

"Okay." Luke opened the door and Ashton walked into the hallway before gesturing for me to follow him out. I led the way to my dorm in silence, the dim hallway lights making me return to an even groggier state. Eventually I stopped in front of my door with the boys falling into place behind me.

"Well, I'd say this was a friendship well made!" Ashton went in for a hug and I lazily wrapped my arms around his neck, breathing in the small trace of cologne that stuck to his Slayer t-shirt. "Have a good night, Audrey."

"Thanks, you too."

Luke was bringing up the rear for a hug with his starting out as a bit awkward due to the towering fact that he was taller. I didn't mind, though. I wrapped my arms around him all the same and allowed the scent of his fabric softener transport me back to a familiar place. All the days of folding laundry with Naomi came flooding back, leaving me unable to pull away. Luke reminded me of home and it hit me so much worse than I thought it would've. His hug was definitely longer because of that reason, but I didn't think he minded. We swayed just a tiny bit while he hummed, the end of the low tune taking me out of the trance.

"Thanks for the entertainment guys," I said as Luke stepped away. "Well now you know where I am, so holler if you ever need me."

"We will," Ashton replied. I gave a quick nod before taking out my key and letting myself into my own dorm. It was significantly cooler than the hallway thanks to my beautiful fan and I embraced the air with a small smile before turning back to the boys in the hallway. "Goodnight, boys."

"Goodnight," they replied in unison. I waited until they turned to leave before turning on my light and shutting the door.

"Jesus Christ," I said to no one, my voice quiet. What a night, I thought as I pulled out my phone and went to my messages with Michael.

_"Dude, can you get here any sooner? I just got back from chilling with a couple of kids that I can't wait for you to meet. Look @ me go, making friendships in the dark morning. You should be proud."_

The next seconds were spent staring at my bed idly, trying to muster up the energy to get into it. The stairs took all of the strength left in me and now it felt like I had nothing now that I was alone. My eyes were begging for sleep but my body was just not quickly making the move to accommodate. I got there eventually though, turning off the light and slowly making my way under the covers.

I wasn't paying attention to how much time had passed. Now this turned into one of those night where you're tired but you can't sleep. Every time I thought I was comfortable, my eyes would close with no avail. A lot of things were running through my brain and I was having a hard time tuning them out.

What were the odds that Luke played baseball? Good, I had to admit that. Roseboom was awfully close to Cooperstown, and even though Marrion's top degrees had to do with the arts, they took their baseball and its' team seriously. Which was bad for me. Thoughts of baseball brought back thoughts of a smiling boy named Jaycee in grass stained pants waving at me from the outfield.

"Stop," I viciously whispered to myself. I erased all thoughts of Jaycee before they could swallow me whole and focused on better things about Luke that weren't about baseball. Like how he smelled like good memories and how he had a good taste in Australian buddies, cause him and Ashton were quickly climbing their way up my Favorite People list.

With more positive vibes entering my brain and the promise of adventure in the form of two Aussie boys in A11 combined with Michael coming to be a college student with me soon, it was half past five in the morning when I finally let the dead weights on my eyelids slowly suffocate my mind, and then I slept.


	2. two

I woke up the next morning to three text messages. The first one came from Jenna. _"I'm so excited to be there soon!!! A few more hours," sent two hours ago._

The second one came from Michael, surprisingly. I couldn't remember the last time he woke up before noon. _"Wtf? You couldn't stay away from replacing me at least until I got there? <3 I'll be there at around 1, so be ready to hear me whine."_

The third and final message was the one I was really thinking about. It came from Jaycee, and only said _"good morning, beautiful."_

My stomach twisted in what seemed like a million ways as I slowly sat up. Just last week he was telling me how he couldn't bear the thought of talking to me when we were both going separate directions. The sadness on his face was something I couldn't easily forget, he looked completely devastated that reality finally crashed down on him. It was a scene that still made a part of my heart ache for him and his feelings.

Beautiful?

_Morning champ_ , I typed before pausing to stare down my thumb that was hovering over the send button. I always called him champ as a pet name when we were together. I would coo at him whenever he won something and it made him so happy to see me admiring his knack for winning whatever he was doing.

The knots in my stomach were the reminder that things were different now. We weren't together anymore and there was no reason for him to add "beautiful" to his message. There was no reason to suck me back into the vicious cycle of repeating feelings when nothing was going to come out of it. I backspaced the whole message and typed out a plain and simple _"good morning,"_ sending it and forcing Jaycee out of my head entirely before I could go back on myself.

Normally I wasn't a fast texter in the morning as my fingers always struggled to land on the right letter. This morning was no exception to that pattern, and if anything, it was worse. My eyes fought the urge to stay closed every time I blinked and even though I was standing up, I could feel my body fighting my brain in the war to go back to sleep. There was no way I was going to allow myself to live without replying to Jenna and Michael first.

_"Nobody could ever replace you,"_ I typed with extreme difficulty. _"Get here soooooon Clifford, and bring a coffee with you. I might just be asleep when you arrive."_

_"I can't wait until you get here! I've just been sleeping and plain bored, haha."_ My text to Jenna was only half a lie. I was sleeping at some point and I was bored before I went to sleep last night. Ashton and Luke weren't boring, but that was the only thing that sparked any interest.

Ashton and Luke. My head fell back onto the headboard, cool against my neck where my dark hair wasn't touching. Part of me thought that I had imagined last night. There was no other explanation for what happened. Now that I had sleep and I was able to properly reflect on the time, I was surprised that I even went to go kill the spider in the first place, much less stay in their dorm and become friends. It seemed a bit too out of character for me.

Outside I could hear the laughter of a group of people. It was close to twelve in the afternoon and the campus was now alive, buzzing with students both new and old. With a small frown I came to the realization that there was no way I was going to be able to go back to sleep. My phone dinged as I finished stretching my arms out but I ignored it, getting off of my lazy ass in search of clean clothes. With all of my spare time yesterday you'd think I'd settle myself in better than I did. Instead most of my clothes were still folded in their respective packed spots.

My head was halfway through the space provided for it when my phone rang. Through the panic I rushed to correctly put on the shirt and didn't pay attention to the name of the caller before I picked up.

"Hello?"

"Why didn't you answer my text?" The voice was low and smooth, all too familiar. Jaycee.

"I'm sorry," I answered through my confusion. If he had an urgent text that I had to see he normally texted repeatedly until I answered. "I didn't see my phone."

"Are you kidding me? You're always on your phone."

"I'm not o-" I stopped myself from getting louder. There was no reason for me to be angry. It wasn't worth it. "I'm not on my phone all the time," I said, much quieter. He scoffed and I could picture him rolling his pretty brown eyes.

"Honestly babe, you could've fooled me."

Babe. I stepped backwards with careful feet until I was able to sit on my bed, reaching up to smooth my hair while I took it in. There was no reason for him to call me babe anymore. No reason for him to be calling me at all if he was just going to comment on my phone usage, either.

"Anyways, I asked you in the text if you found someone new." His words sounded careless and nonchalant, but I knew better.

 

Five months ago I was at a family reunion with a cute dress adorning my frame and a smile on my face. My cousin Anthony was the same age as me and always told me that I was his favorite out of all of us siblings. Because we were so close, it was no surprise when he found me on the patio couch in our backyard and took up my company. On the other side of me was his friend that he brought with him.

"I'm Ryan," he said with a bright smile. He had a gruff voice that I didn't mind as he talked. I mostly listened to him and Anthony as they recapped on their school year, Anthony informing me of all of the rebellious things he's done. Everything was going fine until Jaycee got out of his shift at work. He found me mid laugh with the boys and Ryan much too close for his level of jealous comfort.

"Hey babe!" There was nothing in his tone that would ever suggest he was mad. He came strolling into the patio area with ease, looking nothing but normal. "Sorry I'm late, traffic was a bit backed up."

"It's fine," I answered with a smile, getting up to kiss him. Instead of the intended quick peck he held me to him to the point where I felt bad for doing this in front of the poor boys. I was never one for PDA in the first place and kissing in front of them just felt wrong. When we finally stopped Jaycee kept his arm around my waist, and I could almost feel the tips of his fingers digging into my skin through the dress.

"This is my cousin Anthony, and this is his friend Ryan. Guys, this is Jaycee. He's my boyfriend."

"Yeah," Anthony said a bit awkwardly. "We got that, but thanks for pointing it out. Nice to meet you."

"You too," Jaycee responded. Nothing in his voice changed but his grip on me became tighter. "Babe, are you going to introduce me to everyone else?" I nodded in response and went to go inside where the rest of the party was happening, confused and a little dampened in the mood.

 

That day I learned how jealous Jaycee could really get. He never let it show to the public eye though, keeping his voice at all of the right tones so he could slide on by on the outside and seethe in his head. His voice was just the same now.

"No," I lied. "Things around here have been pretty boring."

There was absolutely no part of me that wanted to tell me ex boyfriend who was sending me mixed signals that I stayed up talking to not one but two guys in the morning when one of them was shirtless in their dorm. I wasn't looking for a reason to start anything with Jaycee. I just wanted this phone call to end so the weird feeling in my stomach could stop.

"Oh. That's funny, cause I actually ran into a couple of girls last night." My heart skipped a couple beats. "They were really nice, and I'm kind of digging this one chick. I guess I just wanted to see if it was okay with you first."

I stayed silent for a couple seconds while my brain processed everything I was feeling. We officially broke up a week ago, and although I wasn't completely wrecked by going our separate ways, the ache that left my stomach and traveled up to my chest told me that this was still gonna hurt.

"Yeah," I answered. My voice was too soft. I cleared my throat and fixed my posture. "Yeah, it's okay. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well I just wanted to make sure you'd be okay with me seeing another girl. You know, with our break up being so recent and all ..." There was a certain hint of smugness in his tone and it filled the silence he left as he trailed off. That fucker, I thought as I gripped the phone tighter. He's totally doing this on purpose.

"Well now I'm telling you that it's okay. We're over bro, you can see whoever you want. It's none of my business." I paused, quickly deciding my next words before I could accurately think about them. "Just like I can see whoever I want without you calling to ask about it."

"Audrey-"

"I have to go," I lied quickly. "Freshman orientation is starting soon and I still have to get ready and meet Michael."

"Michael," he repeated, his tone now flat and lifeless. He never liked Michael. "Well I'll leave you to it then. Try not to miss me too much?"

"Don't worry, I'll try not to. Bye."

After he hung up I allowed myself to fall back on the bed. The ceiling was a nice cream color and I found myself staring at it for the next several minutes.

I thought I was okay. While I was sad when we finally called it quits, another part of me was able to breathe easy. Loving Jaycee began to feel like a job that I didn't sign up for that past month and I was constantly torn on if it was right of me to feel that way.

"He's just doing it to get back at you," I said out loud, as if I need to physically hear it. Get back at me for what? For not being as affected by the break up as he thinks I should've been? For accepting that we weren't going to work out instead of fighting to be together? I didn't know if I wanted to hear the answer.

 

It was more around noon when Michael got to the dorms. My cheeks were stuffed with microwaved macaroni and cheese when I got his text to come meet him downstairs and the surprise made me almost spit it all out. Normally Michael was always later than expected to everything. Him actually being early to events was kind of like my own golden ticket into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, but instead of really cool sweets I just got bad puns and insults filled with love. There's no way I'd rather have it. Saying Michael was my best friend always felt like a lie when I told people. He was my other half in the most platonic way.

It didn't take long before I was flying down the dorm hall with minimum difficulty to try and get to him. All of the grogginess that set into my bones this morning eventually faded away as I went on with the day, leaving me perfectly awake and semi-energized. His text told me that he was in the parking lot of the south wing, which was no problem. I knew this campus better than any freshman and was able to see his mom's mini van in record time.

"Michael!" His name came out a bit breathless, but the person who had the mop of dark hair on his head turned around anyway. He was lucky that he was used to my greetings, or else he would've been completely screwed when I began running to him again. Arms strong from lifting up amps all the time held me with ease as I jumped into them, breathing in the scent of his stupid Axe fuckboy cologne with a smile on my face so wide that it physically hurt to keep it there.

"Well look mom, it's my favorite girl jumping into my arms. Exactly like I told you she would," Michael said, his words smooth and his tone teasing. "I knew there was no way she could stay away from me for that long."

"You're right," I agreed, my words being spoken into his pale neck. All of this summer went by so fast and Michael didn't even get a tan out of it. Typical. "I missed you so much, Mikey. Never leave me again."

"I wont best friend, I promise. It's not like you'd let me leave, anyway." My grin got impossibly wider as I took in his words and pulled back. He released me from his grip and I released him from mine, both of us taking the time to look at Karen, his mom. She was out of the car now and looked at us like she was on the verge of tears.

"Aww momma Karen, don't cry! You can get some love, too." I went to give her a hug, squeezing her tight as her ragged breaths crashed into my shoulder. It was pretty obvious why she was crying, and it wasn't because she missed me for the day.

"Your son is safe with me," I mumbled loud enough for just her to hear. "Don't worry momma Clifford, I know he'll be just fine."

"I know," she whispered. "And I trust you, Audrey. I just... Make sure he does his homework, alright? You know how he tries to slack off all of the time if you're not there to keep him on it."

I chuckled at her words, pulling back so I could look at her face with my grip soft on both of her shoulders. "You know I'll be on his little behind if he tries to slack off. Don't you worry about a thing."

She smiled through the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks, a beautiful and kind smile that made my heart ache for her and Michael both. Their close relationship is one I could only dream of with my parents.

"I know, hunny. But I'm afraid I'm a mom and it's my job to worry about this stuff."

"Audrey I know you quite possibly love my mom more than you love me, but can we get all of this crap out of the car? It's making me sick just looking at it, and you know I'm not normally nauseous by messy things."

Karen and I both shared one last smile before I turned around and headed to the open trunk. It honestly looked like a hurricane went through all of Michael's stuff before they got here to try and make my life just a tiny bit harder. His bookbag was found in a mess of clothes that were hastily thrown over half opened bags of all sorts.

"Michael?"

"Yeah Audrey?"

"I think I actually hate you." We were both smiling as he slung his arm around my shoulders and kissed my temple in response, causing me to make a face.

"Momma Karen, your kid is kissing me!"

"Nuh-uh, she's the one who kissed me!" Michael's voice went into a whine that was honestly just adorable. With a giggle I reached up to pinch his cheeks.

"Yeah, you're right. But I couldn't help it, you're just too damned cute!"

"Fuck you," he whined, retracting his arm and pulling out a suitcase from the mess in the trunk. "I'm not cute. I'm punk rock."

"No," I argued as I picked up his backpack. There was a small clinking noise when I slung it over my shoulder, making me roll my eyes. Something tells me whatever was in these bottles was not legal for an 18 year old. "You're not punk rock, Michael. You're actually a loser."

"True. Now come on, let's get this show on the road."

 

Thirty minutes and a goodbye that Michael would be embarrassed of if anybody but me saw, we were sitting on his unmade bed in his dorm. It was a double like mine, with his roommate out to go get lunch. All I knew was his name was Calum and he was in the soccer club. We weren't focused on Calum though, so I didn't look around at his stuff and kept my gaze on the green eyed boy in front of me.

"So who are the new friends?" Michael then took a sip of whatever was in his coke bottle. I suspected there was a bit of alcohol in the drink but didn't say anything.

"Just a couple of kids I met while I couldn't sleep, their names are Ashton and Luke." Thinking about last night brought a smile to my face that I couldn't control, causing Michael to give me a funny look. "I was wandering around the dorms when I heard Luke scream like a girl. So I rushed in like your favorite superhero and guess what? He was screaming cause of a spider. A fucking spider, Michael."

I didn't laugh about it last night, but I was laughing about it now. Baseball playing Luke was scared of a spider and the situation seemed so much funnier now that I was actually talking about it. Michael broke out into a small smile.

"Really? That doesn't sound very manly."

"No, it wasn't manly at all. But his chest and back were very manly." Our eyes widened at the same time as we both realized what I just said.

"Audrey Skye Ward, oh my go-"

"No," I squeaked out. "It's not what it sounds like at all. He was shirtless, we didn't do anything but talk." Michael visibly relaxed at my words, but his eyes narrowed as he smirked.

"Do you promise? Cause I swear if you're lying to me..."

"I promise, Michael."

"Good," he said, satisfied with my answer. "Cause if you had sex on the first night without telling me I think that would be the ultimate betrayal of this friendship."

I shook my head and gave him a small smile that wasn't very happy. "No, you know the only person I've ever did that with."

His face softened immediately as he put the bottle down and held out his arms. I scooted over closer to him until I could properly bury my face in his shoulder and sniffle. Michael knew everything that went on with Jaycee up until today. He knew all about what we did and how I felt and how much of an emotional roller coaster I was because of everything.

"He called me beautiful today," I mumbled. "In a good morning text. And then he proceeded to tell me about how he met a girl after he called me and asked if I met someone new yet."

"What a fucking dickhead, I'm sorry." Michael's grip around me tightened as he nuzzled into my hair a bit more.

"Michael, I think I hate him." That was a lie. Through all of the emotional baggage he dumped on me that tore my mind to shreds, I knew that I couldn't hate Jaycee. Not yet. Not when the image of his beautiful smile was still fresh.

"Well I know I hate him, so you're more than welcome to join the club." Despite his words, Michael knew that I didn't hate him either. Having a best friend who knew what you really meant was so nice sometimes.

The door swung open without warning, causing us both to jump and quickly untangle. A tan boy with a cell phone in hand stared back and forth between us two, mouth open as he looked like he was seriously struggling for words to say.

"Uh," he managed to get out, "I'm sorry. Was I interrupting something?"

"No," Michael and I answered at the same time. I took the liberty of speaking first after that. "I'm Audrey, and you must be Calum. It's nice to meet you."

"Calum," Michael said slowly, like the guy was a toddler. "Audrey's the girl I told you about. She's my best friend."

Something must've clicked in Calum's head, because his mouth opened to let out a long "oh" as he nodded before addressing me with a smile that would've looked a lot more cockier than it did if he didn't sport pink tinged cheeks still from opening the door at a bad time. "I'm Calum, as you've heard. It's nice to meet you too."

"She'll be joining us for the orientation speech," Michael put in. "With her roommate, whenever she gets here. If that's okay with you." Calum nodded and quickly voiced that it was totally alright with him, earning a smile from me. I liked him already. He was like a cute little puppy, eager and adorable.

"Speaking of roommate," I said, going to scoot off of Michael's bed. "I have to go tidy up my room before she gets there and thinks she's living with the sloppiest art major ever. Michael, make sure you put your things away with as little procrastination as possible."

"You got it," Michael said with a roll of his eyes. I ignored it and smiled at Calum as he looked back at me. "And it was nice meeting you, Calum."

"You too!"

I waited until the door was closed with Calum inside to go running back towards it. It wasn't like me to eavesdrop, but I wanted to see what Michael had to say. Instead of Michael though, my ears were greeted with the sound of Calum.

"Dude!"

"What?"

"You didn't tell me that your best friend was fucking hot!"

"Sorry," Michael said through his loud laugh while I closed my eyes, fighting off a smile. This was going to be a long year.


End file.
